Make sure you definitely can't push the middle of the sim card out to reveal a micro sim; That's how my latest sim card worked. Other than that, you'll have to order a micro sim from your provider unfortunately. That's what I had to do for the remainder of my Orange contract.

Just thought I'd add I've had the Nexus 4 for a while and can confirm it's an amazing phone. It feels solid and the subtle design works well. Switching between apps is like lightning, seemingly no matter how many are open, and can handle anything you throw at it really. Been having fun with an N64 emulator Definitely a good choice malloc.

For people trying to decide between top end smartphones it's a tough choice; There's obviously the iPhone 5 which is the most powerful phone, has the App Store, but is fairly expensive. Then there's the Nexus 4 which has pure Android 4.2 with fast updates, a slightly faster processor and better GPU than the Galaxy S3, but then the S3 has a better camera, a more responsive and AMOLED screen which gives better blacks and bright colours, but is hard to see outdoors compared with other screen types.

Taking price into consideration though I think it'd be almost stupid not to go for the Nexus 4 at the moment for only £240/280 unlocked. Stick it on a giffgaff sim for £5-£12 a month and you've got one of the most powerful phones available for relatively little money.

Closest thread I could find for my question... has anyone used unlocked-mobiles.com? They have what I'm looking for but having never heard of them til now (and the internet reviews are a typical mixed bag), I'm a bit apprehensive of buying from them.

That's what I thought, but I've been through all the stock apps and the Move to SD is disabled. However, all my downloaded apps have the option enabled and have subsequently been moved. This is on 4.2.2.

I might remove the SD to see if it's tricking me!

Edit: you can't install direct to the SD card, ie: download a brand new app straight the card. But you can certainly move it once it has been installed, well I certainly can!

I got an S4 Mini with my contract. It's alright. Rubbish battery life compared to my old Samsung "smart"phone. Feels pretty massive as well but at least it's smaller than the Note3 / LG G3 or whatever else they were trying to offer me. I think I would have preferred the Sony SP but since I'm in Samsung-land, I didn't really have a choice.

I have the Xperia Z and it is almost perfect, the interface is now mostly stock Android with a few little touches and they ditched the stupid time-scape along with other guff. As for specs the regular Z is technically behind the HTC One but you wouldn't know it as it flys and is smooth. They are the same in the important areas like screen resolution, ram and the Z has a micro sd slot.

There were some niggles with the Z so the refresh Z1 fixes a few like for example the waterproof cover for the headphone socket has gone. Also the processor and camera have been beefed up in the Z1. I got a refurb Z for £240 and is a bargain, but if the Z1 was same price i would say get that.

That would be pretty much what I'd buy. I think 720p is more than enough for a phone, I think 4" is enough... being not Apple is a plus, and being Sony is another plus. So is it 4" or another 4.7/whatever monster?

edit: because I'm tired of so-called "mini" 4.3 phones... my XPeria S has 4.3" and that was a flagship phone in 2012, not some "mini" device. If only someone made a 4" flagship phone... oh? you mean, who? Oh for God's sake.